On a Sunday morning, a metal detector enthusiast from Massachusetts traveled to New Hampshire to help a stranger find a lost wedding ring. Just a day after the ring went missing, he located it, but that was not the end of the story.
Subsequently, this kind-hearted individual embarked on a journey covering several miles to return the ring to its rightful owner in Shushan, New York.
Arthur Fleming, a 64-year-old electrician from Pepperell, Massachusetts, has been involved in metal detecting since 1990 and has helped several people locate lost items. He modestly stated that his efforts to find the woman’s wedding ring were nothing out of the ordinary.
“Metal detecting is a hobby for me. It’s for recreational purposes,” he told “Epoch Times,” adding, “Finding a ring for someone or locating keys in a snowstorm and returning these things, that’s where the satisfaction lies.”
On August 10, 28-year-old dental assistant Kelsey Battease lost her ring while vacationing with her children and mother-in-law at Hampton Beach in New Hampshire.
At noon, while walking on the beach holding her two-year-old son’s hand, her wedding ring slipped off her finger and into the waves, causing Battease distress.
“My stomach and heart dropped out of my body,” she told “Epoch Times.”
Despite spending about 30 to 40 minutes searching for the ring, the back-and-forth flow of the water left her feeling “hopeless” about locating it.
After discussing with her mother, Battease posted a request on social media hoping someone could find her wedding ring. Her mother shared the post on the Hampton Beach Facebook page, receiving prompt responses. Battease remarked, “Many people were eager to use metal detectors to search for it.”
“Someone asked me when I lost it so he could determine where to search based on the tide and time,” she said.
That person was Fleming.
Upon seeing the post, Fleming drove almost an hour to the beach the next day (August 11) and asked Battease and her mother a few questions before commencing the search.
“I woke up around 7 a.m., just to make sure I got a parking spot. We didn’t really get started until around 8 a.m.,” he shared in an interview with “Epoch Times.”
He spent about four hours searching, focusing on the specific stretch of beach where Battease said she lost the ring. It was no easy task. That morning, his waterproof metal detector only turned up a pair of sunglasses, a coin, a penny, and two pull tabs, but no wedding ring.
Eventually, tired and hungry by noon, Fleming decided to call it quits, unaware of the surprise awaiting him.
Standing knee-deep in water, his metal detector suddenly beeped, and when he retrieved the item, it was the ring. Recognizing it from a photo on Facebook, he knew he had found it.
“When I saw it in my scoop, I knew that was the ring. I knew I had found it,” he said.
Fleming texted Battease that he found the ring and inquired if she was nearby to come collect it. To avoid any suspicions from Battease’s family that he might be a scammer, he even included a photo of the ring.
They texted back that they lived in northern New York.
“They were just coming for a day trip,” he stated.
Battease, a busy mother of three, found it difficult to make time to meet with Fleming to retrieve her ring. Eventually, on August 23, they met halfway.
“We agreed to meet in Brattleboro, Vermont, which was 90 minutes for them and also 90 minutes for us. She was thrilled and overjoyed,” Fleming shared.
Indeed, she was.
Battease expressed, “I am extremely grateful, I can’t even put it into words how kind and considerate he was to take the time to search for it and then bring it all the way to where I live.”
Despite the distance between these newfound friends, they continue to stay in touch and hope to meet again someday.
Battease is pleased that Fleming’s good deed received the recognition it deserves. She wishes to share her story to let everyone know that “there are still good people in the world.”